The Toltec Secret to Happiness: Create Lasting Change with the Power of Beliefby Ray DoddPosted by: DailyOM

Previously published as The Power of Belief

Imagine being happy and content even in the most difficult times. An impossible dream? Not at all. But if your desire for happiness isn't being reached by trying harder, having more, or knowing more the problem may lie hidden within the core of your deepest beliefs.

Our deepest beliefs impact every aspect of our lives: our performance at work, our issues with money, the state of our health, and how we conduct all our relationships.

In The Toltec Secret to Happiness Ray Dodd reveals how hidden beliefs create barriers to living a happy life, and how to break through self-limiting boundaries by changing those beliefs.

In 1996, after a chance meeting at the pyramid ruins in Teotihuacan, Mexico, Ray embarked on a six-year apprenticeship with don Miguel Ruiz, MD, author of the widely beloved and best-selling book, The Four Agreements.

"Now, building on the Toltec Wisdom Path popularized by don Miguel, Carlos Castaneda, and many others, The Toltec Secret to Happiness offers four simple steps to transform any belief that stands in the way of your happiness.

Read it and discover:

- How to identify and change any self-limiting belief
- The key to eliminating regret, worry, and self-doubt
- The secret to staying balanced and happy, even when things are falling apart
- The most effective way to achieve lasting change

INTRODUCTION

Belief is Power, the power to create. You create your own reality simply by what you agree to believe. Your deepest beliefs about everything hold your attention and propel you into action, or keep you from taking action. What you believe impacts your performance at work, your attitudes about money, how you navigate through the world, and how you conduct all your relationships.

Belief colors every experience and determines how we react in any situation, yet we are often unaware of the hidden beliefs that guide us. Sometimes our beliefs hold us back from realizing our deepest desires. Oftentimes it is the long-forgotten agreements we’ve made with ourselves that keep us stuck, repeatedly making choices in conflict with what we say we value most.

When you come to understand the real power of belief, you’ll discover you have the ability to create any point of view you choose. Learn to exercise that power and you can defeat fear-based beliefs about yourself and the world around you that keep you from the happiness and inner peace you’ve always desired. Harness the power of belief and you’ll break through self-created boundaries you were convinced could never, ever change.

In my practice helping others change their limiting beliefs, I assist people who are motivated to face whatever is holding them back. They have already decided where they want to go; they’re just not exactly sure how to get there. Traditional performance coaching focuses on what is true now, in the present moment, and what actions need to be taken to produce different results. However, mapping out strategies and taking action are only one small piece of the puzzle.

While facilitating transformation for both individuals and organizations, I have noticed that focusing on what people believe is far more powerful than trying to change behavior. Concentrating on what they believe has been vastly more effective than dissecting the stories they tell me about their problems and then working from the details. Working from the details creates managed solutions that don’t last because the real problem has never been resolved. In order to effect lasting and positive change, they need to change what they believe.

The belief-change process contained in this book, born out of my own experiences and sharpened by working with hundreds of people to alter their own self-defeating beliefs, is deeply rooted in the ancient wisdom of the Toltec. In 1996 on a trip to the pyramid ruins in Teotihuacán, Mexico, I had the amazing good fortune to meet don Miguel Ruiz M.D., author of the best-selling book about the teachings of the Toltec, The Four Agreements. Don Miguel is a former medical doctor and teacher dedicated to carrying on his family’s spiritual heritage.

Not long after the trip, I began to study with don Miguel. I went to see him on a regular basis over a period of six years and those visits began a new chapter in my life.

Prior to meeting don Miguel, I spent many years trying to find a way to heal my own unhappiness and dissatisfaction. I was always looking for something different or better. I was addicted to identifying what was wrong with everything, so I tried whatever I could think of—moving to a new place, finding a different job, starting a new relationship—all with the potential to get me what I thought I needed. I went through portions of this cycle many times, buying into the myth that I would finally be happy when I had this, or when I found that.

Having mixed results trying to change what was outside of me, I started on an inward journey that took me through many philosophies, faiths, and practices. I worked with various types of healers and read mountains of motivational and self-help books. I studied numerous spiritual traditions, had a martial arts practice in Aikido, and even spent time in a seminary.

Along the way I accumulated lots of wonderful knowledge I wholeheartedly agreed with, yet I was still struggling, frequently overpowered by unwanted emotional reactions when things didn’t go the way I thought they should. At the time, I assumed simply collecting all that information would do the trick. Looking back now, I realize I wasn’t living all those ideas that sounded so good to me because they were in conflict with what I really believed.

My own process of change went into high gear when I began to study with don Miguel. Nothing he taught was in conflict with what I had learned up to that point. In fact, it complemented it. I discovered the Toltec way is unique, chock-full of simple yet brilliant devices that produce extraordinary results when put into practice. I have done my best to include as many as possible in this book.

The Toltec were an ancient culture chiefly located in what is now the pyramid ruins of Teotihuacán in the high midlands of Mexico. In a tradition that dates back thousands of years and continues today, the Toltec were known throughout Mexico as men and women of knowledge. One interpretation of the word “Toltec” is “artist.” They considered the manner in which you lived your life as your art; thus the Toltec way was not a religion but more accurately a way of life.

The modern Toltec view embodies many universally accepted truths adopted by bona fide faiths and spiritual traditions around the world, along with a common-sense approach to explaining what we are and how we got this way. Toltec philosophy claims that there is no way for us to change unless we have an understanding of how we create our own unique perception of the world. The Toltec description of human awareness is that the mind never rests, and one of its main purposes is to dream. Their mythology states that we are always dreaming, not only at night, but also while we are awake, and what we experience inside the dream is significantly altered by our beliefs about everything.

You are always modifying what you see, according to what you believe. What you believe produces a unique perception of the world and drives most of your thoughts, your actions, your joys, and your sorrows. It is very real, yet amazingly enough, it is only real for you and no one else.

My understanding of the true power of belief began 30 years ago when I tried to quit smoking cigarettes. Although I only smoked a few cigarettes a day, I had come to despise the habit. About that time, the government began to force cigarette manufacturers to publicize the health hazards of smoking and print warnings on the package. Even the pack of cigarettes said smoking was bad for you!

I had all the information I needed to make a decision to quit smoking, but I just couldn’t stop. I would quit for a few days, buy a pack, smoke a few cigarettes, and then throw the pack away disgusted with myself. I tried everything there was on the market to help me quit smoking. I bought nicotine gum, books, tapes, and took special supplements. I even tried hypnosis, but none of it helped. Sometimes I would quit for weeks. The physical addiction to the nicotine would subside, but something much more powerful was pulling me back into the habit. My level of frustration became enormous.

One night as I was drifting off to sleep I heard an unfamiliar voice from deep within me say, You’re afraid to embrace LIFE! You can’t breathe deeply without the smoke to calm your fear. You live in the shadows. You don’t care whether you live or die.

I immediately dismissed the thought as preposterous. “Of course I care. I want to live!” I said to myself. But as the days passed I started to look carefully at this thought that had risen from a level well below what I was conscious of.

You don’t care whether you live or die.

The words haunted me. When I stopped denying it, something emerged from me. I became aware of a hidden memory that now existed only as a long-forgotten dream. There was a part of me that believed exactly what I had discovered. It was true and yet it had been invisible to me. That awareness was startling and yet very powerful. Maybe I believed it, but with awareness I could make a choice to no longer agree with it. The part of me that believed it was from another time in my life. Once I understood that, I stopped smoking immediately. The battle was over. It was never about smoking. It was all about what I had believed.

Whether you are aware of it or not, the entire tapestry of your life—woven together with the threads of belief— is your masterpiece. We are all Toltecs, artists of life. So whether you are interested in changing self-defeating beliefs that stand in your way, increasing your people skills by recognizing what others truly believe, or using the positive beliefs that have served you well as a springboard to the next level of personal achievement, understanding the true power of belief can be a very valuable tool.

Step by step, you will discover how to remap any belief that is an obstacle to getting the results you want, unleashing the potential for profound and enduring transformation in every part of your life.

The Toltec Secret to Happiness is divided into three sections. Part 1, “The First Dream,” examines the ability we have to devise our own unique reality, or as the Toltec described it, our personal dream. It defines what belief really is, shows how our belief system was created, and describes how hidden beliefs can keep us from the happiness we dream is possible. Part 2, “The Second Dream,” contains carefully designed steps for modifying any belief you want to change. Part 3, “Tools,” includes a list of definitions for terms used throughout the book. Some of the terms are taken directly from the Toltec mythology, some I have modified from the original concepts, and some are my own invention.

Over the years I have noticed that what I considered a simple idea could be a maddening puzzle for my clients and students. They needed to hear it over and over again in lots of different forms before they would start to comprehend what was being said. Looking back over my own process, I did the very same thing. My teachers would repeat many times over concepts that are obvious to me now but certainly weren’t then. These devices, the terms in the book, are designed to help you clearly understand the core ideas that are fundamental to create lasting and positive change.

It is awareness of the awesome force of belief that creates possibility. Possibility limited only by what you can imagine. Positive belief anchored in respect, love, integrity, and self-acceptance provides you, the artist, with a new brush that makes bold strokes. It is time to create the life you’ve only dreamed of. But to do this you must be ready. Ready to change what you believe!